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Summary
Summary
★ "An exceptionally satisfying picture book." --Booklist (starred review)
★ "This readaloud is sweetly told as Swashby overcomes his bitter habits to welcome new, friendly, and energetic people into his quiet life." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
From New York Times bestselling author Beth Ferry and Caldecott Honor winner Juana Martinez-Neal comes a sweet-and-salty friendship story perfect for pirate-lovers and emerging readers learning to embrace moments of change. This hilarious picture book will keep emerging readers laughing, and the message-related mishaps in the story create an opportunity for spelling and sounding out new words!
Captain Swashby loves the sea, his oldest friend. And he loves his life by the sea just as it is: salty and sandy and serene.
One day, much to Swashby's chagrin, a young girl and her granny commandeer the empty house next door. All Swashby wants is for his new neighbors to GO AWAY and take their ruckus with them.
When Swashby begins to leave notes in the sand for his noisy neighbors, however, the beach interferes with the messages that are getting across. Could it be that the captain's oldest friend, the sea, knows what Swashby needs even better than he knows himself?
Author Notes
Beth Ferry is an author who wrote Stick and Stone which made the New York Times Best Seller List 2015.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Swashby, a bushy-bearded, red-nosed old salt, is ready to spend a reclusive retirement ("Salty/ and sandy/ and serene") by his longtime friend, the sea. "She knew him in and out,/ up and down,/ and better than anyone," writes Ferry (Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish). When a girl and her grandmother move in next door ("nosy,/ a nuisance,/ annoying"), he starts leaving stern warning messages in the sand. "NO TRESPASSING," reads the first, "which the sea fiddled with, just a little bit," turning it into "SING," which the girl does with gusto. When the sea turns "PLEASE GO AWAY" into "PL--AY," the child almost coaxes Swashby into being her playmate. But it takes the sea turning dangerous to fully open Swashby's heart; he rescues the girl and embraces neighborliness, realizing that it can mean "fun,/ and friends,/ and... family." Caldecott Honoree Martinez-Neal's acrylic, colored pencil, and graphite drawings teeter between scenes curmudgeonly and sweet, underscoring the story's tensions. A strong sense of place emerges from the palette, redolent of sunlit sand and sea glass, and the interplay between Swashby and his meddling sea has its magic. Ages 4--7. Author's agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. Illustrator's agent: Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (May)
Horn Book Review
Retired sea captain Swashby (captain of the ship El Recluso) loved the sea, but he does not like people. When a bubbly girl and her grandmother move in next door to his house on the beach, Swashby rebuffs their friendly overtures, convinced that neighbors are "nosy, a nuisance, annoying," even though he can't resist grouchily offering advice on proper sand-castle construction and such. Swashby writes the pair messages in the sand, which the sea "fiddled with, just a little bit" to change their meanings from menacing to inviting; for instance, the tide erases most of the letters in his message "Please go away" so that it reads "Play." But when the sea meddles with the girl's sand castle, she plunges into the water, and Swashby doesn't hesitate to dive in after her. After that, he joins the girl and her grandmother for tea, ice cream, lobster, and s'mores, finally accepting that neighbors "could be fun, and friends, and...family." Illustrations home in on facial expressions, Swashby's intricately detailed facial hair, and the girl's nonstop activity, while the text features delightful alliteration and seafaring puns. Readers yearning for the beach will appreciate this feel-good story about a curmudgeon who is coaxed out of his shell and into an unlikely friendship. Julie Hakim Azzam September/October 2020 p.60(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Old Capt. Swashby's peaceful seaside home is disturbed when a gregarious little girl and her granny move into the once-empty house next door. The only neighbor Capt. Swashby has ever wanted was his old friend the sea, so when new neighbors began to take over the beach--and even Swashby's deck--without permission, he leaves a message in the sand for the interlopers that reads, "NO TRESPASSING." The sea "fiddle[s]" with Swashby's message and washes away most of the letters, leaving the word "SING," which the little girl does "while dancing up and down [along] Swashby's deck." It changes two other unwelcoming messages to invitations for the girl and her granny to "W_ISH" upon a starfish and "PL_AY" in the sand. Then, after building a sand castle (following Capt. Swashby's grouchily delivered advice), the girl is washed out to sea--to be rescued by the old salt, beginning a wholehearted friendship. The feeling of place is solidified by Martinez-Neal's use of color, which breathes the life into this story; the muted beige, blue, and turquoise palette is perfect for a beach tale. The cantankerous old coot is depicted as a white man with an enormous gray beard while the girl and her granny are depicted with brown skin, exuberant Afros, and enormous spectacles. This sweet story of friendship is sure to win over even the grumpiest of listeners. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Captain Swashby retires to a little seaside house, enjoying the serenity until a lively little girl and her amiable granny move in next door. Suddenly grumpy, Swashby hides when they ring the doorbell and feeds their gift of cookies to the gulls. He even writes a message in the wet sand: NO TRESPASSING. But the sea fiddles with it, erasing a few letters. The girl reads only "SING," and so she does. After he writes "PLEASE GO AWAY," the sea fiddles again, leaving PL--AY for the girl to read, and so she does. But when the sea carries the child away from the shore, Swashby dives in, brings her back, and, upon reflection, forges a friendship with his new neighbors. The illustrator of the Caldecott Honor--winning Alma and How She Got Her Name (2018), Martinez-Neal uses acrylics, colored pencils, and graphite to create pictures that capture the feel of the seaside, as well as the protagonist's shifting emotions. Telling a story with imagination and wit, Ferry creates a cantankerous but lovable character in Captain Swashby and a mysterious, well-intentioned, mischievous one in the sea, which transforms the captain's final message, "THANK YE, FRIEND," into "THE END." It's a fitting conclusion to an exceptionally satisfying picture book.